Laura Nelkin
Craftsy Instructor

Upstate NY

Laura Nelkin lives in upstate New York, where the sunny season is short, leaving plenty of time to be indoors knitting. Though she has a degree in apparel design, she took to knitting years ago and hasn't looked back since. Laura is currently enamored with lace, and with incorporating beads into knitted jewelry, so most of her designs lean in this direction. She travels often to teach these techniques and more at workshops around the country. ... Read Full Bio »

Laura Nelkin lives in upstate New York, where the sunny season is short, leaving plenty of time to be indoors knitting. Though she has a degree in apparel design, she took to knitting years ago and hasn't looked back since. Laura is currently enamored with lace, and with incorporating beads into knitted jewelry, so most of her designs lean in this direction. She travels often to teach these techniques and more at workshops around the country. Her designs have been featured in a number of online publications, including Interweave, Knitty.com, Schaefer Yarn Co. and Creative Knitting. Her new book, Knockout Knits, will be released in September 2014.

Laura's Craftsy Classes

Use knitting expert Laura Nelkin's design worksheet along with any of twelve templates to build your own cowl designs with little to no math. You'll even be able to write publishable patterns. Laura will help you choose yarn, stitch patterns, borders and edgings before guiding you step-by-step through bringing a unique cowl to life. Design a cute, cozy round cowl, a sophisticated Möbius cowl or a fabulous flat cowl you can seam or connect with buttons. Along with all the tips and tricks you need to succeed at designing and knitting original cowls, this class also includes three of Laura's finished cowl patterns! Sign up today and radiate eye-catching style in custom cowls you can call your own.

Celebrate a new life or a treasured friend with the gift of a stunning lace baby blanket or shawl. Renowned lace designer Laura Nelkin will knit along with you as you create her delicate Life Cycle pattern. She will show you how to master nupps, read lace charts and work this square project in the round. You will work through five beautiful motifs before adding an edging that is a work of art in itself.

Scared to try lace knitting? Intimidated by charts? You'll be on your way to lace artistry with Laura's step-by-step instructions and two included patterns. The Skywalker shawl starts with easy stitch pattern and increases in difficulty. Then you'll be ready for the delicate Clarus! Laura will not only teach you how to knit triangular and semicircular lace shawls, but also will demonstrate how to fix your knitting mistakes. An active knitwear designer, blogger and workshop leader, Laura is the ideal guide for every stage of your lace knitting adventure, from learning to choose yarn and kniting borders and edges to reading multiple charts at once.

Beads add color and flair to knitted garments, accessories and jewelry. Laura's back to show you how easy and rewarding it is to incorporate beads into any knitted project. Begin with a simple cuff, then progress to Laura's Accola shawl. You'll learn how to select the right beads and add them to any design. She demonstrates on her popular Clarus shawl pattern. Along the way, you'll learn how to create nupps, place beads in different locations on or between stitches, and work in both lace-weight and fingering-weight yarn. The two shawl patterns included free with this class can be worked in either type of yarn, and in small or large versions.

$24.99$39.99

Laura Recommends

Entrelac looks astoundingly elaborate, but it's totally doable if you have the right teacher! Gwen will show you how to create three elegant projects: a classy cowl, a stylish infinity scarf, and a cute cape. I love Gwen's teaching style; she adores entrelac and is warm, fun and engaging.

After traveling to Iceland this summer I've developed a bit of an obsession with the Lopi Sweater. I knit my first this fall (http://www.craftsy.com/project/view/a-lopi-for-rhinebeck/67807) and know that I have A LOT to learn about this tradition of knitting. When Ragga announced her class on Lopi sweater knitting I signed right up, and I can't wait to see the Lopi that comes off my needles next!